Nestlé (OTCMKTS:NSRGY) Rating Lowered to Underweight at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Nestlé (OTCMKTS:NSRGY) from an equal weight rating to an underweight rating in a report issued on Friday, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has $91.00 price objective on the stock.

NSRGY has been the subject of several other research reports. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Nestlé from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered Nestlé from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Nestlé to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut Nestlé from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $91.00.

Nestlé Price Performance

NSRGY opened at $100.61 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $95.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $91.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63. Nestlé has a 1 year low of $80.11 and a 1 year high of $110.46.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NSRGY. DF Dent & Co. Inc. boosted its position in shares of Nestlé by 193.6% in the fourth quarter. DF Dent & Co. Inc. now owns 7,192 shares of the company’s stock valued at $588,000 after acquiring an additional 4,742 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Nestlé by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,806,000 after purchasing an additional 10,523 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nestlé during the 4th quarter valued at $386,000. Altrius Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Nestlé by 13.5% in the fourth quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc now owns 78,687 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,429,000 after purchasing an additional 9,381 shares during the period. Finally, Saybrook Capital NC raised its position in shares of Nestlé by 19.5% in the fourth quarter. Saybrook Capital NC now owns 75,741 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,188,000 after buying an additional 12,340 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Nestlé Company Profile

Nestlé SA, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a food and beverage company. The company operates through Zone North America; Zone Europe; Zone Asia, Oceania, and Africa; Zone Latin America; Zone Greater China; Nespresso; and Nestlé Health Science segments. It offers baby foods under the Cerelac, Gerber, Nido, and NaturNes brands; bottled water under the Nestlé Pure Life, Perrier, Vittel, Buxton, Erikli, and S.Pellegrino brands; cereals under the Fitness, Nesquik, cheerios, and Lion Cereals brands; and chocolate and confectionery products under the KitKat, Smarties, Aero, Nestlé Les Recettes de l'Atelier, Milkybar, Baci Perugina, Quality Street, and Fitness brands.